Mortgage technology

At a time when loan servicers are being inundated with questions on borrower loan status, loan modifications and other customer service issues, ISGN Corp., a global mortgage solutions company, has released its Customer Service Portal System that provides borrowers, lenders, investors and attorneys with self-service 24/7 access to active and inactive loan data. The portal includes data such as tax and insurance information, escrow analyses and year-end, current and historical loan data, regardless of the servicing system used. The Customer Service Portal can integrate into any loan servicing system platform, and can be private labeled for any lender or servicer. The system utilizes secure Internet technology to ensure data safety and confidentiality, and automatically collects and displays updates of borrower information, directly from the company's servicing application.

The key to successful loan modifications is a more robust data exchange and feedback between all parties involved before and after the modification, the president of Consumer Credit Counseling Service of Atlanta said during a foreclosure panel at the SourceMedia Mortgage Servicing Conference in Dallas. Suzanne Boas sees a developing trend in the fact that more and more servicers are now interested in consistent data feedback between counseling agencies and servicers, a step that helps loss mitigators ensure data transparency for all parties including investors. "We need more information on how the loan is performing after the modification," she said, adding industry interest to that end is growing. A more robust data exchange between foreclosure counselors like CCCS who are directly involved in achieving a loan modification agreement and servicers has proven to benefit borrowers as much as servicer efficiency in loss mitigation, she said. Following that path CCCS is expanding its Early Resolution Counseling Portal platform it has pilot tested in partnership with Bank of America and Wells Fargo. Another eight counseling agencies are joining CCCS into the program, which helps reduce processing and approval time for workouts on BoA and Wells Fargo loans. After counseling is completed the portal (created by Computer Sciences Corp.) analyzes the data servicers have included in the portal's database for counselor's review. It screens specific lender and investor requirements, so by the time a counseling session ends the borrower is presented with accurate workout options. If an agreement is reached it is immediately sent to the servicer for a quick decision.

LenderLive Network Inc., a Denver-based company that provides business process outsourcing and technology, said it has launched the first large-scale Home Affordable Modification Program campaign with one of the nation's top four servicers. It did not identify the servicer it was working with. HMP is part of the recently passed Making Home Affordable program, which will allow up to nine million Americans to refinance or modify their home loans. With this campaign, LenderLive plans to manage all of the inbound and outgoing documents required under HMP, including certain fulfillment processes. "At launch, we anticipate processing nearly 2,000 transactions per day," said Rick Seehausen, chief executive of LenderLive Network. The company has another five servicers in the queue for which they are preparing to initiate services.

Fannie Mae said its refinancing volume totaled $77 billion in March, up from $41 billion in the previous month, as borrowers took advantage of lower mortgage rates and a new flexible refinancing program. The mortgage giant it has not seen this level of activity since refinancing boom of 2003. "We anticipate that volumes will increase even more as millions of additional homeowners become eligible to refinance" under the Home Affordable Refinance initiative, according to Fannie executive vice president Tom Lund. Under that initiative, Fannie and Freddie Mac are expected to use flexible underwriting to refinance mortgages they already own or guarantee. Borrowers with loan-to-value ratios between 80% and 105% can refinance at current market rates under this initiative. Mortgage insurance requirements have been waived on those refinancing transactions. Existing insurance policies will be transferred to the new loan, however. Lenders and brokers can use Fannie's Desktop Underwriter to process those refinancing applications.

RealtyTrac, Irvine, Calif., is launching a new service called RealtyTrac Renter Alert, which gives tenants advance notice when the property they are renting enters into default or is about to be foreclosed by a lender.Over 30% of homes where the mortgagor has defaulted or the property has gone into foreclosure are not owned by the occupant. Thus, hundreds of thousands of renters are at risk of being evicted, even though many have never missed a rent payment. The new monitoring service sends e-mail alerts to subscribers warning them immediately of any foreclosure activity on a specific property.

Docu Prep Inc. and Xerox Mortgage Services have integrated their joint services to enable lenders to incrementally implement full electronic processes. Docu Prep's EESS (short for Entire Electronic Signature Solution) provides e-disclosure, e-signature, e-modifications, e-closing, and e-vault services. This technology combines with the BlitzDocs collaborative network allowing lenders to enter the electronic world where they want to and gradually expand out to doing full e-closings. The service can be used for something as simple as allowing the borrower to e-sign a disclosure or it can allow the lender to open the electronic signing room as 'view only' to closing agents or attorneys, and makes a seamless transfer to the e-vaulting services, including MERS.

Integrated Asset Services LLC, a Denver-based default management and residential collateral valuation services provider, has rolled out a new product, called the "Conditioned Valuation Model." The company describes a CVM as a cost-effective tool that allows the integration of automated property analytics with human observation, adding that it falls out on the continuum between an automated valuation model and a broker price opinion. A CVM delivers a real-time, 360-degree view of the condition of the property, the neighborhood, the condition-adjusted value and market price trends. "Traditionally, the industry has had the choice of a more expensive human-based solution or faster and riskier automated solutions. But the current mortgage industry requires these two valuation approaches interact intelligently and at the right price point," said Dave McCarthy, chief executive of IAS. A CVM costs half the price of a standard BPO. The executive said CVM was designed to help avoid AVM failure to disclose supporting data and valuation methodologies that result in questionable property valuations. The CVM uses a valuation formula that integrates property data from IntelliReal, IAS' technology partner, to provide real estate intelligence, analysis, current neighborhood sales data and active listings. The data is then combined with a hands-on inspection performed by a third-party property inspection firm, including photos on the subject property and its neighborhood condition, occupancy status, and conditions that impact value.

The Mortgage Bankers Association on Monday laid off about 16% of its workforce - about 20 full-timers - including four of its vice presidents. A spokeswoman for the trade group said the layoffs "were across the board" affecting all of its departments, including communications, government, marketing and research. Since last year MBA has lost about 30% of its staff. After the cutbacks the organization will employ about 110. Recently, mortgage technology vendors said MBA would eliminate its annual technology trade show to save money, but the spokeswoman shot down such talk in part. It is unlikely the MBA will hold a standalone technology show, but rather fold technology into its other shows or do smaller regional technology shows. Its membership ranks have been hurt by the worst housing downturn since the Great Depression, resulting in hundreds of non-banks and depositories closing their doors over the past 18 months. The trade group has been criticized by members and past employees for two large, somewhat recent blunders: building a new $100 million headquarters in Washington and then struggling to lease out its empty floors. It also merged with a subprime lending trade group, most of whose lending members have failed. Discussing the office building, one former MBA executive said, "They basically traded paying the rent for bodies." The executive, requesting anonymity, said the staff cuts "will impact a lot of long-term projects they have."

The price gap between homes that sell as REO and the rest of the market is widening, according to a new study by Lender Processing Services. Prior to 2007 the difference in prices was slim, said LPS, a mortgage software company based in Jacksonville, Fla. Using a home price index that it developed, LPS conducted a study of changes in regional home prices between 2007 and 2008 in the nation's top housing markets. "In general, markets that experienced sharp drops in home prices in 2008 also saw deeper REO discounts," said LPS senior vice president Nima Nattagh. The largest drop in prices of REO sales were found in Riverside County, Calif. In 2008 home prices fell 28% there compared to 2007. However, when REO sales are factored in, prices fell by 34%. Home prices declined by 29% during 2008 in Phoenix where analysts cite significant overbuilding. When REO sales were excluded from the analysis, though, the price decline was less severe at 19% year over year. The gap between home prices with and without REO sales was smallest in Seattle, New York and Cambridge, Mass. While the Western states and Michigan and Florida saw double-digit declines in home prices, other regions have fared much better. But further deterioration in the housing market will most likely deepen the REO discount levels in these markets, LPS said.

The Treasury Department has explained how to use a new website that allows homeowners to learn about Obama administration's new housing plan and whether they can qualify for a loan modification.The new MakingHomeAffordable.gov website has a calculator that allows homeowners to estimate how they could benefit from a modification. "Be sure to check out the calculator that allows homeowners to estimate the reduction to their monthly mortgage that they might get under the plan," a White House blog says. Meanwhile, agency officials are working on a net present value (NPV) test that servicers will use to determine if a loan should be modified. They plan to roll out a standard NPV model soon that provides some flexibility for servicers. For example, a servicer with a low re-default rate would not have to use the national rate.

SigniaDocs and World Wide Notary have integrated their platforms to support e-signatures and e-notarizations for any mortgage document or document set. The integration of data, from the loan origination systems through MERS registration, aims to eliminate errors that otherwise might result from fragmented paper-based systems. The resulting blend of capabilities allows lenders essentially to avoid printing mortgage documents requiring signatures by borrowers, so mortgage transactions can remain electronic from start to finish. At the MBA Technology Conference in Las Vegas, SigniaDocs said that by using SigniaDocs' eVault, all documents that are traditionally "papered out" and reviewed during the closing process are now available in advance of closing. Borrowers can review and click-to-sign the majority of documents at their leisure and then the few that need to be e-notarized or witnessed by a notary are passed to World Wide Notary's DigaSign system to complete the documents through this partnership.

Kroll Factual Data and MIAC Analytics formed an alliance at the MBA Technology Conference in Las Vegas to provide whole loan collateral risk assessment to mortgage investors and risk managers. The alliance provides real-time risk metrics to help MIAC's clients measure fundamental risks, said Paul Van Valkenburg, principal at MIAC. He said it also provides customers with current loan value and borrower credit information that allows them to manage portfolio risk accurately and in a timely manner. Specifically, the alliance can deliver information within hours that once took days or weeks, Mr. Van Valkenburg said. Kroll Factual Data assesses consumer data to help clients evaluate loan characteristics and transfer risk. MIAC Analytics' software products assist with deriving loan loss reserve calculations, pricing and valuation of mortgage-based assets and other-than-temporary impairment for securities.

Lenders delivering loans to the Federal Housing Administration can now manage the process online through Xerox Corp.'s BlitzDocs electronic collaboration tool. A big problem for lenders that are paperless or want to become paperless is that FHA has 20% to 40% market share and they don't have e-mortgage standards. So, at the MBA Technology Conference in Las Vegas, BlitzDocs launched an FHA connector. BlitzDocs helps lenders and investors reduce document-related costs by capturing and managing image-based loan documents. There is now a connector in BlitzDocs to FHA that will allow lenders to either go or remain paperless when dealing with FHA. BlitzDocs will do the conversion required to deliver an acceptable loan to FHA.

Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac officials are expressing concerns that the American Securitization Forum's efforts to draft consensus secondary market standards could potentially create another mortgage identification standard outside of the MERS Mortgage Identification Number and cause confusion in the industry. ASF has been seeking comment on delivery standards that are still under construction and may or may not include the MERS MIN. The ASF declined to comment on the issue. Each loan registered on MERS is given a unique MIN that identifies that loan. At present, the MIN and registering the e-note on MERS is mandated by both GSEs if they will accept an e-mortgage from any lender. Speaking at the Mortgage Bankers Association's Technology Conference in Las Vegas, Ted Adams of Freddie Mac stressed, "The MIN works and we're using it. The introduction of another loan identification number as purposed by ASF would be confusing." To combat the potential of the MIN being rendered obsolete by anything the ASF creates, R.K. Arnold, president and CEO at MERS, urged lenders to adopt e-processes and use the MIN, arguing that if usage is mainstream, the ASF will have to recognize the validity of the current MIN.

Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac officials are expressing concerns that the American Securitization Forum's efforts to draft consensus secondary market standards could potentially create another mortgage identification standard outside of the MERS Mortgage Identification Number and cause confusion in the industry. ASF has been seeking comment on delivery standards that are still under construction and may or may not include the MERS MIN. The ASF declined to comment on the issue. Each loan registered on MERS is given a unique MIN that identifies that loan. At present, the MIN and registering the e-note on MERS is mandated by both GSEs if they will accept an e-mortgage from any lender. Speaking at the Mortgage Bankers Association's Technology Conference in Las Vegas, Ted Adams of Freddie Mac stressed that, "The MIN works and we're using it. The introduction of another loan identification number as purposed by ASF would be confusing." To combat the potential of the MIN being rendered obsolete by anything the ASF creates, R.K. Arnold, president and CEO at MERS, urged lenders to adopt e-processes and use the MIN, arguing that if usage is mainstream, the ASF will have to recognize the validity of the current MIN.

With foreclosures on the rise, the share of Internet inquiries that include the keyword "foreclosure" has jumped in recent weeks, according to HitWise, an online measurement company. The week of Feb. 2 had the highest share, probably because of increased media coverage of the top foreclosure cities, said HitWise research director Heather Dougherty. But queries also jumped in the weeks ending Feb. 28 and March 7 to their second and third highest levels, respectively, in the last three years. Searches for "free foreclosure listings" and "foreclosure listings" topped the list of terms containing the word "foreclosure" for the four weeks ending March 7, which Ms. Dougherty said, "confirms" that many potential buyers are seeking bargains. The downstream sites visited following a keyword search uncovered a number of what HitWise labels as "uncategorized" sites that offer databases. Sites under that label are either too new or too small to be tracked, the Experian subsidiary says. But they nevertheless bear watching as they grow and compete for traffic.

BB&T Corp. has opted to embrace electronic signatures on disclosures and pre-closing documents.The company has chosen the Secure Lending solution from Fiserv for its e-lending purposes. Using the Fiserv solution will enable Winston-Salem, N.C.-based BB&T, the nation's 11th largest financial holding company, to manage workflow with compliance best practices by tracking and retaining all versions of the Real Estate Settlement Procedures Act three-day disclosures and other pre-closing documents sent to borrowers. The Secure Lending solution electronically streamlines and manages the sharing of upfront loan disclosures with borrowers.

BB&T Corp. has opted to embrace electronic signatures on disclosures and pre-closing documents. The company has chosen the Secure Lending solution from Fiserv for its e-lending purposes. Using the Fiserv solution will enable Winston-Salem, N.C.-based BB&T, the nation's 11th largest financial holding company with $152 billion in assets, to more easily manage workflow with compliance best practices by tracking and retaining all versions of the Real Estate Settlement Procedures Act three-day disclosures and other pre-closing documents sent to borrowers. The Secure Lending solution electronically streamlines and manages the sharing of upfront loan disclosures with borrowers. BB&T seamlessly sends the documents from their loan origination system to the customizable secure eLending website, where borrowers view, electronically sign, print or download them. BB&T will soon have the ability to receive the electronically signed documents, and any unsigned versions, directly back into their loan origination system, where they are then transferred into BB&T's internal document repository. The electronically signed originals can also be stored in the Fiserv platform electronic vault. Additionally, with the Secure Lending platform's new expanded reporting, BB&T is able to see full details and status of documents that have been electronically distributed through the platform, at a loan pipeline level.

SigniaDocs, Houston, has integrated its electronic vault technology with Equifax's identity verification engine to address their respective users' interest in using secure automation to counter increasing ID fraud through means in line with new federal rules. The engine, which is called Equifax Secure's eIDverifier, verifies online mortgage applications and the company promises borrower identification that is compliant with the Federal Trade Commission's Fair and Accurate Credit Transactions Act red flag rules. The rules, which first went into effect in November 2008 and are set for full enforcement as of May 1, require companies to look out for and address potential indicators that may be signs of ID fraud. A February report by Javelin Strategy & Research, San Francisco, indicated that the number of identity fraud victims increased 22% to 9.9 million adults in the United States in 2008.

Most Home Corp. Vancouver, British Columbia, has sold its point-of-sale automation tool, NetUpdate, to Mortgagebot, Mequon, Wis. Mortgagebot paid Most Home Corp. cash compensation of $600,000. In addition, Most Home is keeping approximately $107,000 in receivables that it had already billed or collected prior to closing. Before this deal came about, Most Home tried to sell NetUpdate to Data-Vision, but Most Home shareholders rejected the offer, which was structured as a three year arrangement that called for monthly payments, based on a percentage of gross revenues earned by the NetUpdate operations, with a minimum cumulative payment of $500,000 over that period. Most Home is focusing its efforts on mobile technology with this divestiture and Mortgagebot is gaining the NetUpdate customer base, which means Mortgagebot now serves 900 banks, thrifts, and credit unions nationwide.